Michael Gove is always keen to quote “The Swedish Model” when discussing the perfect approach to education.
So let’s follow his example and quote the Swedish model for university education – it’s free to all EU citizens.
Or we could quote the Danish model or the Finnish or Norwegian one, or how about the Polish one? All free to EU citizens.
What do they know that we don’t?
http://www.guardian.co.uk/education/2009/sep/15/students-university-netherlands-scandinavia
This whole tuition fee debacle is simply a backdoor to force people from poorer backgrounds into other forms of non-academic, vocational HE. It is a disastrous abandonment of fundamental Liberal Democrat principles and, if the parliamentary party doesn’t have the balls and the integrity to oppose it, it should be met by the fiercest opposition by the rank and file.
I wonder what’s involved in calling for a vote of no confidence in the leadership now that we’ve had all the clap-trap about “voters can now sack their MP”? Whatever it is, will the membership have the gumption to mobilise and take them to task? They’ve shown great restraint until now and the party does seem to be well and truly over – in every respect…
Friday, 15 October 2010
Monday, 11 October 2010
Nick Clegg applies to send his son to the London Oratory School...Déjà vu?
It speaks volumes for the unstated, acute discomfort of Liberal Democrats that 90% of Liberal Democrat bloggers completely ignore this story and instead frantically attempt to cover it up by shooting the messenger, in the shape of the, admittedly highly dubious, Daily Mail (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-131923.html). So let's get back to the facts of the story:
Fact: Nick Clegg sells himself as atheist or agnostic
Fact: Faith schools are anathema to atheists and agnostics
Stephen Tall over on Liberal Democrat Voice states that Nick Clegg’s own views on faith schools are no secret and that 'within a month of his election as party leader in 2007, he set them out plainly': "If we are to create a society in which everyone has a fair chance in life, we need to focus on education, above all. Faith schools have an important role to play in that, and I am keen that they become engines of integration, not of segregation."
Well, he would say that wouldn't he? When making that statement he already knew that his children would be heading for some top catholic school and is, presumably, too clever to shoot himself in the foot. Children from homes with faith can perfectly happily be brought up in that faith by their family and their faith institution, without also going to a faith school.
A quick trawl of the history and context of the London Oratory makes it abundantly clear that it is highly selective, it's own website states the importance of 'interviews with parents and 'suitable' boys'.....Their Head was a member of a Tory Education Think Tank and openly goaded and challenged the Labour government by asking parents to cough up to 'cover the shortfall in funding'.
Our bloggers might all be good card carrying Liberal Democrats, I'm sure, but come on, just bite the bullet and admit that this is a shamelessly elitist choice by Clegg.
Love it or hate it, but don't deny it.
Fact: Nick Clegg sells himself as atheist or agnostic
Fact: Faith schools are anathema to atheists and agnostics
Stephen Tall over on Liberal Democrat Voice states that Nick Clegg’s own views on faith schools are no secret and that 'within a month of his election as party leader in 2007, he set them out plainly': "If we are to create a society in which everyone has a fair chance in life, we need to focus on education, above all. Faith schools have an important role to play in that, and I am keen that they become engines of integration, not of segregation."
Well, he would say that wouldn't he? When making that statement he already knew that his children would be heading for some top catholic school and is, presumably, too clever to shoot himself in the foot. Children from homes with faith can perfectly happily be brought up in that faith by their family and their faith institution, without also going to a faith school.
A quick trawl of the history and context of the London Oratory makes it abundantly clear that it is highly selective, it's own website states the importance of 'interviews with parents and 'suitable' boys'.....Their Head was a member of a Tory Education Think Tank and openly goaded and challenged the Labour government by asking parents to cough up to 'cover the shortfall in funding'.
Our bloggers might all be good card carrying Liberal Democrats, I'm sure, but come on, just bite the bullet and admit that this is a shamelessly elitist choice by Clegg.
Love it or hate it, but don't deny it.
Saturday, 11 September 2010
Great topical conspiracies, or something else? You decide.
Just because you're paranoid, doesn't mean the b*st*rds aren't out to get you...
Conspiracy theories:
9/11:
All purpose, unequivocal instrument for justifying the 'War on Terror'.
Swine Flu:
Global real-time experiment of chemical warfare attack.
MPs' expenses:
Throw a few MPs to the wolves, takes the heat off the bankers - much cheaper.
Global Warming/Recycling:
Save your cardboard, recycle bottles, walk don't drive, don't throw away food = dressing up inevitable austerity as virtue.
Islamic terrorism:
Softening up the West for an attack on Iraq/Afghanistan/Iran anywhere you like really - The Shock Doctrine.
Legalise drugs:
1) Save money. 2) Make money. 3) Get the losers off their heads and lock them away somewhere cheap. Leave the terminally ill at home with ample supplies of reefers, they're happy, we save money.
If true: The non-conspiracy theorists will have their lives constantly f*cked up as they don't understand what's happening. If not true, they're no worse off.
If true: The conspiracy theorists will be two steps ahead of the game and can take action to adapt their lives to circumstances. If not true, they're no worse off, but they'll have had a lot more fun weaving their conspiracy theories.
"The more you can increase fear of drugs and crime, welfare mothers, immigrants and aliens, the more you control all the people."
Noam Chomsky
Conspiracy theories:
9/11:
All purpose, unequivocal instrument for justifying the 'War on Terror'.
Swine Flu:
Global real-time experiment of chemical warfare attack.
MPs' expenses:
Throw a few MPs to the wolves, takes the heat off the bankers - much cheaper.
Global Warming/Recycling:
Save your cardboard, recycle bottles, walk don't drive, don't throw away food = dressing up inevitable austerity as virtue.
Islamic terrorism:
Softening up the West for an attack on Iraq/Afghanistan/Iran anywhere you like really - The Shock Doctrine.
Legalise drugs:
1) Save money. 2) Make money. 3) Get the losers off their heads and lock them away somewhere cheap. Leave the terminally ill at home with ample supplies of reefers, they're happy, we save money.
If true: The non-conspiracy theorists will have their lives constantly f*cked up as they don't understand what's happening. If not true, they're no worse off.
If true: The conspiracy theorists will be two steps ahead of the game and can take action to adapt their lives to circumstances. If not true, they're no worse off, but they'll have had a lot more fun weaving their conspiracy theories.
"The more you can increase fear of drugs and crime, welfare mothers, immigrants and aliens, the more you control all the people."
Noam Chomsky
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Not what the doctor ordered?
Hooray! At last some seriously enlightened thinking by the Department of Health in the shape of LibDem Care Services Minister Paul Burstow. Burstow's basically giving patients the go-ahead to spend their care money however they like, allowing individuals to decide how, where and from whom they receive their healthcare, in partnership with the local NHS.
So you could choose to spend your 'care budget' on your osteopath, accupuncturist, hydrotherapist, herbalist - whatever you think works for you - how good is that?
Well, it sounds like brilliant doctoring to me but wait, what's this? Just down the road at the British Medical Association there's an almighty clamour! Doctors are revolting and have just voted overwhelmingly in favour of removing homeopathic treatments from the NHS.
According to Nursing in Practice and a number of other esteemed journals, the British Medical Association (BMA) conference have just voted against the continuation of homeopathy on the health service and called for the financial support of four UK homeopathic hospitals to be removed.
Are the two by any chance related? I think we should be told! But in the meantime...you decide.
So you could choose to spend your 'care budget' on your osteopath, accupuncturist, hydrotherapist, herbalist - whatever you think works for you - how good is that?
Well, it sounds like brilliant doctoring to me but wait, what's this? Just down the road at the British Medical Association there's an almighty clamour! Doctors are revolting and have just voted overwhelmingly in favour of removing homeopathic treatments from the NHS.
According to Nursing in Practice and a number of other esteemed journals, the British Medical Association (BMA) conference have just voted against the continuation of homeopathy on the health service and called for the financial support of four UK homeopathic hospitals to be removed.
Are the two by any chance related? I think we should be told! But in the meantime...you decide.
Sunday, 27 June 2010
Nick & Dave in Conference Land?
I despair trying to explain to people how coalitions work and today I came pretty close to throwing in the towel altogether. According to the Liberal Democrat blogging site LibDemVoice, someone has apparently put forward the suggestion that Nick & Dave should address each other's party conferences.
Eh?!
Partners in a coalition coalesce – “coalesce, v., to mix together different elements”, note: DIFFERENT elements. I might marry some dubious dude but that doesn’t instantly morph me into a man. Parties that coalesce don’t become each other. So why on earth one political party would want to invite someone from a different political party to an internal political conference is beyond me. The fact that it’s even contemplated in the first place indicates that the contemplaters just don’t get it.
As a good card-carrying Social Liberal Democrat it’s enough of a test of strength to find myself in the same bedroom as Dave, and only just bearable due to the twin bed arrangement.
On a more serious note, there’s too much of a general whiff of the Tories being the ‘superior’ partners in this deal. They are no such thing. The Liberal Democrats can leave the playground anytime they like.
And no ‘yes buts…’ please. They can, end of.
When will the Brits get the hang of this and how can they best be educated in modern parliamentary practice?
Answers on a postcard please.
Eh?!
Partners in a coalition coalesce – “coalesce, v., to mix together different elements”, note: DIFFERENT elements. I might marry some dubious dude but that doesn’t instantly morph me into a man. Parties that coalesce don’t become each other. So why on earth one political party would want to invite someone from a different political party to an internal political conference is beyond me. The fact that it’s even contemplated in the first place indicates that the contemplaters just don’t get it.
As a good card-carrying Social Liberal Democrat it’s enough of a test of strength to find myself in the same bedroom as Dave, and only just bearable due to the twin bed arrangement.
On a more serious note, there’s too much of a general whiff of the Tories being the ‘superior’ partners in this deal. They are no such thing. The Liberal Democrats can leave the playground anytime they like.
And no ‘yes buts…’ please. They can, end of.
When will the Brits get the hang of this and how can they best be educated in modern parliamentary practice?
Answers on a postcard please.
Friday, 25 June 2010
Helloooo Frank Dobson ... can you hear me?
So, in this brave new world of honest politics, MPs can finally be held to account by the voter - that's me! Why, if I'm really unhappy with their work, my MP can even be "recalled", that's 'getting the sack' in Westminster speak.
Let's see how we're is doing so far in my neck of the woods. During the election campaign my Labour MP Frank Dobson's party piece consisted of trumpeting how he was one of the good guys - he voted against the Iraq war. That's an issue very close to my heart, as I left the Labour party over the Iraq War. Now, it just so happens that I've discovered that Frank did not vote against the Iraq war at all so he's got some cheek to be perpetuating the lie a full seven years after the event. In the new spirit of openness I wrote Frank and asked for an explanation. I got a standard acknowledgment but no reply, so I repeated the exercise - only this time I received a big fat zero. That's not good Frank. I don't think that's how this new system of openness is supposed to work.
I guess it's the old story isn't it? You lie about something long enough and you start to believe your own propaganda. Frank's main propaganda item for the last seven years has been that he voted against the Iraq war. But he didn't. In fact, he didn't vote at all. Frank Dobson chose to leave the building just before the crucial vote, the declaration of war. Was this the sly action of a seasoned politician using the system for his own gain or merely an act of sheer cowardice? You decide. Frank seems quite a nice man, so why is he lying? More to the point, if that's his style, what else might he be less than honest about? I did put the question to Frank during the election campaign but he claimed that he couldn't remember how he voted. Do you buy that? No, neither do I.
But let's be kind. Frank's no youngster and he probably has his share of 'senior moments'. However, luckily he can now get help to remember by looking at the relevant documentation readily available to us all:
http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/division.php?date=2003-03-18&number=118&display=allpossible
This is what he will find:
Iraq — Declaration of War — 18 Mar 2003 at 22:00
Mr Frank Dobson - Holborn & St Pancras - Absent
So I'm waiting for Frank. Honest and open politics - remember? Now let's see if this House of Commons Santa look-alike can hack it. Frank's my MP, he represents my interests, I want to know that I'm dealing with an honest man.
I've put Frank's 2nd July surgery at Camden Town Hall in the diary. I'll be there and I hope Frank is too. I shall report back in due course.
Let's see how we're is doing so far in my neck of the woods. During the election campaign my Labour MP Frank Dobson's party piece consisted of trumpeting how he was one of the good guys - he voted against the Iraq war. That's an issue very close to my heart, as I left the Labour party over the Iraq War. Now, it just so happens that I've discovered that Frank did not vote against the Iraq war at all so he's got some cheek to be perpetuating the lie a full seven years after the event. In the new spirit of openness I wrote Frank and asked for an explanation. I got a standard acknowledgment but no reply, so I repeated the exercise - only this time I received a big fat zero. That's not good Frank. I don't think that's how this new system of openness is supposed to work.
I guess it's the old story isn't it? You lie about something long enough and you start to believe your own propaganda. Frank's main propaganda item for the last seven years has been that he voted against the Iraq war. But he didn't. In fact, he didn't vote at all. Frank Dobson chose to leave the building just before the crucial vote, the declaration of war. Was this the sly action of a seasoned politician using the system for his own gain or merely an act of sheer cowardice? You decide. Frank seems quite a nice man, so why is he lying? More to the point, if that's his style, what else might he be less than honest about? I did put the question to Frank during the election campaign but he claimed that he couldn't remember how he voted. Do you buy that? No, neither do I.
But let's be kind. Frank's no youngster and he probably has his share of 'senior moments'. However, luckily he can now get help to remember by looking at the relevant documentation readily available to us all:
http://www.publicwhip.org.uk/division.php?date=2003-03-18&number=118&display=allpossible
This is what he will find:
Iraq — Declaration of War — 18 Mar 2003 at 22:00
Mr Frank Dobson - Holborn & St Pancras - Absent
So I'm waiting for Frank. Honest and open politics - remember? Now let's see if this House of Commons Santa look-alike can hack it. Frank's my MP, he represents my interests, I want to know that I'm dealing with an honest man.
I've put Frank's 2nd July surgery at Camden Town Hall in the diary. I'll be there and I hope Frank is too. I shall report back in due course.
Saturday, 19 June 2010
Labour's Financial IEDs
The £2b cuts announced by Danny Alexander last week were cuts in relation to what can best be described as budget-improvised-explosive-devices strategically placed at the roadside in the final months of an outgoing Labour government realising that they couldn't (and didn't want to anyway) win the election. The idea, which incidentally has Alastair Campbell's unmistakable fingerprints all over it, was that these spending pledges would obviously be abandoned by the incoming government, giving David Miliband the opportunity to jump up and down squealing "Gratuitous Economic Vandalism!"
Let's examine the nature of the pledges in question and you'll see what I mean;
1. £25 million visitor centre at Stonehenge - cutting this is designed to outrage the whole of middle England, the natural LibDem heartland, academia and anyone with a soft spot for 'The Nation's Heritage'.
2. Jobs guarantee for young people - a cut here would guarantee that no one could come up smelling of roses - cue the outraged D Miliband. The fact that this scheme was as yet unfunded? A mere inconvenience.
3. Improvements to a hospital in Teesside - not a hospital!? I hear you cry. Don't touch our hospitals!! I hear the entire electorate snarl. Guaranteed to whip up deep emotions.
4. Walking routes promised by the Health Department - Eh? Ok, I guess it might upset the Ramblers Association but, I have to admit that the significance of this one is lost on me. Over to you Alastair...
5. An £80 million loan to Sheffield Forgemasters - the piece de resistance, coup de gras, whatever French handle you care to embellish it with, this one's nothing short of a stroke of genius. Flash Bang Wallop right in the heart of Cleggland! Cue general sniggering at Nick's hand wringing, oh and the outraged D Miliband again: "Gratuitous Economic Vandalism!"
It has been positively embarrassing (but nonetheless gratifying) to see every single Labour pundit wheeled out during the week, quoting from the same script, almost verbatim, when pronouncing on these cuts, invariably majoring on Sheffield Forgemasters.
The most insulting thing of all is just how clumsily predictable all these devices are, or perhaps we are just getting better at detecting the Labour Spin Machine.
Let's examine the nature of the pledges in question and you'll see what I mean;
1. £25 million visitor centre at Stonehenge - cutting this is designed to outrage the whole of middle England, the natural LibDem heartland, academia and anyone with a soft spot for 'The Nation's Heritage'.
2. Jobs guarantee for young people - a cut here would guarantee that no one could come up smelling of roses - cue the outraged D Miliband. The fact that this scheme was as yet unfunded? A mere inconvenience.
3. Improvements to a hospital in Teesside - not a hospital!? I hear you cry. Don't touch our hospitals!! I hear the entire electorate snarl. Guaranteed to whip up deep emotions.
4. Walking routes promised by the Health Department - Eh? Ok, I guess it might upset the Ramblers Association but, I have to admit that the significance of this one is lost on me. Over to you Alastair...
5. An £80 million loan to Sheffield Forgemasters - the piece de resistance, coup de gras, whatever French handle you care to embellish it with, this one's nothing short of a stroke of genius. Flash Bang Wallop right in the heart of Cleggland! Cue general sniggering at Nick's hand wringing, oh and the outraged D Miliband again: "Gratuitous Economic Vandalism!"
It has been positively embarrassing (but nonetheless gratifying) to see every single Labour pundit wheeled out during the week, quoting from the same script, almost verbatim, when pronouncing on these cuts, invariably majoring on Sheffield Forgemasters.
The most insulting thing of all is just how clumsily predictable all these devices are, or perhaps we are just getting better at detecting the Labour Spin Machine.
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